re: Split scute indicating "female" on Egyptian Tortoises?

[rsepiphyte]

I have been looking for some Egyptian tortoises to add to my collection and one of the sellers mentioned this in regards to one of the animals they had for sale . "Please note the second has a split scute mid-vertebral. (Some people prefer these guys as it's sometimes thought to be an indication of "female-nish".)". Has anyone on the forum heard of this before? This is a completely new theory to me but i am always up to learning more about this species. Slainte' Ruth

 

[Jacqui]

You hear that a lot and it does seem to be true often due to the higher incubation temperatures causing a lot of the split scutes. However not always are split scutes females nor are the split scutes only from high incubation temps.